Sandiaga Uno Concerned with Deaths of Polling Station Workers

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice Presidential candidate number 02 Sandiaga Uno expressed his deep concern regarding the deaths of so many working committee members of polling stations in different parts of Indonesia, amid the peaceful convening of the recent general elections.

"We are so concerned that this fundamental electoral process has made many people running the polling stations suffer fatigue, and even die," he told journalists after observing a vote recapitulation process at Surabaya's Pancasila Sports Hall on Saturday.

As of Friday, or ten days after the convening of the parliamentary and presidential elections reportedly participated in by more than 80 percent of some 192 million eligible voters on April 17, 230 polling station committee members had died.

According to the General Elections Commission (KPU), they lost their lives due to exhaustion or meeting with traffic accidents amid their hectic work schedules, while 1,671 others fell ill.

These people were in charge of manning different ballot booths across Indonesia's 25 provinces. To add to these cases, no fewer than 33 Elections Supervisory Committee members and 15 policemen also lost their lives while tending to electoral duties.

This stark factual reality should thoroughly be examined, said Uno, who is a successful businessman-turned politician and former deputy Jakarta governor.

As of Friday evening, 58 people running and securing polling stations in various parts of East Java Province had died. Among them are four residents of Surabaya.

According to the Surabaya city government, the four dead polling station workers were identified as Sunaryo, Thomy Heru Siswantoro, Badrul Munir, and Hariono.

Sunaryo, 58, was chairman of the polling station working committee/polling station number 13 in Kapas Madya Baru Village, Tambak Sari, while Tomny Heru Siswantoro was a member of the polling station number 19 in Pacar Keling Village, Tambak Sari Subdistrict.

Badrul Munir was noted as a member of polling station number 19 in Kedung Baruk Village, Rungkut Subdistrict, and Hariono, 36, was a security guard from Kandangan Village in Benowo Subdistrict who was in charge of securing polling station number 45.

ANTARA